


Flutter and Fall

by LeFay_Strent



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, Heartwarming, M/M, with a side of dog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 15:08:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17748197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeFay_Strent/pseuds/LeFay_Strent
Summary: Virgil doesn’t believe in love at first sight, but he wonders if you can fall in love with a moment.





	Flutter and Fall

Virgil adjusts the lens of his camera. He kneels on the ground to get the perfect angle and tries his best not to move suddenly to startle the butterfly he’s attempting to capture. It’s a monarch, the orange of its wings popping out vibrantly against the worn concrete of the water fountain it rests upon.

_Click_.

He checks the image to be sure. Beside him, his cocker spaniel turns her head as if to sneak a peek. Virgil obliges.

“Whaddya think, Shadow?” he asks for her valuable critique.

Shadow sniffs the camera and licks it once. Virgil laughs and nudges her head away.

It’s a busy Saturday at the park. Lots of people are there taking advantage of the sunshine weather, either strolling down the paths, playing frisbee in teams, or sitting together along the benches. There’s even a group doing a yoga session over in the grass. With as crowded as it is, Virgil thought he’d be more nervous.

But the weather’s nice, his dog’s fur is soft as he pets it, and the shot he just took is stunning.

It’s a good day.

Virgil scans the area for another picture to take. There’s a couple of elderly ladies chatting on a bench a few yards away from him. Shadow keeps trotting over to them to check on them, and Virgil already has a few shots of them cooing over her as they talked to him about pets they’ve owned. They’re sweet, and though Virgil doesn’t know what their relationship to each other is, he knows undoubtedly that they’ve known each other for many years.

It’s fascinating to know the people behind the pictures he takes. Almost as interesting as never knowing who they are. Some of his favorite ones to take are candid images of strangers caught up in the wonders of daily life. He doesn’t speak to most of them, unable to bring himself to take the initiative. Never has been able to really. But it’s a comfortable place to be, standing behind a camera and capturing a moment in time of people who could be anything.

As Virgil pivots around slowly, he notices a man in the distance sitting on one of the wooden benches by himself, arms stretched across the backrest. His head falls back to drink in the sun’s warm rays. 

Virgil steps in his direction, drawn to the relaxed posture and the way the light makes his tan skin glow. The older women’s chatting voices are left behind him as he strays away. Shadow trails his steps as she tends to do.

He doesn’t get too close. He stops under the shade of a maple tree, lifting his camera to zoom in on the figure.

The man’s legs, swathed in dark jeans, are crossed. Strong arms are exposed up to his elbow where the sleeves of his red flannel button-up are rolled up. Although he’s not smiling and his eyes are closed, Virgil can tell he’s wonderfully content.

_Click_.

The first image comes through crystal clear. Leaves blow in the wind, giving the picture a touch of the fall season. The man’s handsome figure sits just a tad low and to the left, an intentional decision on Virgil’s part to frame the right with another maple tree whose leaves are tinged in blushing hues.

He steps to the side to change the angle, to bring the bench center stage.

_Click_.

A few more shots go by before Shadow trots off towards the man. Virgil stiffens, watching the next part play out through his camera.

His well-intentioned cocker spaniel plops herself right beside the man’s leg and proceeds to rest her head on his thigh like it belonged there. An eye opens. The man tilts his head down to find his new companion. He brings an arm down to lay against her back, scratching at the black and white fur of her neck. There’s a spark of kindness mixed with amusement gleaning in his gaze. A fond smile plays at his lips.

_Click._

Pleased with herself, Shadow slides away from her new friend to run back to Virgil, her tail wagging furiously as if to say, “He pet me! He pet me!” Virgil sees the way the man watches his dog return to him. He clearly notices Virgil aiming a camera right at him, taking pictures without his permission. Virgil swallows momentarily. Apologies race through his mind as the man tilts his head once more but this time to the side in a way that makes the light kiss his cheekbones. And with how his hair is tousled from the breeze and traces of the fond smile still linger, Virgil can’t help himself.

_Click_.

The image is gorgeous, his expression and the setting making the tone soft and peaceful. Virgil isn’t brave enough to look away from the camera yet, and so he stares through it and sees how the man leans an elbow on the back of the bench, propping his cheek elegantly on a fist. His ankle rests on the other leg’s knee, the overall stance laidback yet inquisitive.

_Click_.

He changes position, stretching one leg out while the other he brings up, limb bent and foot fixed on the seat of the bench. His fingers intertwine over his stomach. His eyes are dark and somber, like they have a story to tell.

_Click_.

It’s not until he swivels to the side, bringing his legs up to lay along the length of the bench and looking at the camera dramatically, that Virgil realizes that the man is _posing_.

A bubble of laughter escapes Virgil.

_Click_.

Whoever he is, the stranger is a natural. He knows how to shift his body in accordance to the lighting. Knows how to use the setting to his advantage. And while some takes are serious and look straight out of a high-end fashion magazine, others are playful and performed only with the intention to make Virgil laugh.

The man wears a broad grin as he stands, wasting no time in gathering a pile of leaves in his hands and tossing them up in the air above his head, carefree. Shadow barks and sprints back over to him to dart around his legs. He welcomes her, chuckling and throwing up more leaves for her to chase.

There’s an energy there reminiscent of childhood. That time marked by simplicity and finding wonder in the little things. There’s joy in the way he spins around, heart unburdened by the worries of who might be watching or what they might think. None of the usual uncertainties matter here, because it doesn’t matter that they don’t know each other. A connection is formed, just from being alive in the same place.

 It’s achingly nostalgic. A reminder that this instance is fleeting, but that happiness will visit once again.

The man holds his arms out to the camera. To offer an embrace to the photographer? Or a gesture for him to join in the excitement? It’s beckoning all the same.

Virgil doesn’t believe in love at first sight, but he wonders if you can fall in love with a moment.

_Click_. 

* * *

His name is Roman. 

He’s laying in the leaf-covered grass, Shadow nosing around him eagerly, her whole body practically wagging at this point.

Virgil had walked over, any hesitance before now long gone. He’s sitting in the grass beside him.

“Is she usually this enthusiastic?” Roman giggles as Shadow licks at his face.

“She’s friendly,” Virgil hums, holding out a hand. She bounds over to him and suddenly realizes her true calling as a lap dog. Panting, she gazes up at Virgil, and it’s hard not to see the love there.

“She’s adorable,” Roman says, smiling at the cute scene. “What’s her name?”

“Shadow.”

“Like from _Homeward Bound_? I loved those movies as a kid! Wasn’t that a golden retriever though?”

Virgil shakes his head with a laugh. “Nah. I mean, I know the movies you’re talking about. But that’s not why. She’s mostly black. Plus, she follows me around everywhere.”

“Like a shadow.”

“Yeah.” Virgil scratches at her floppy ears and she leans into his hand. “I was over at a friend’s house one day. And the door was left open, and she waltzed right in from outside and plopped down by me. My friend had never seen her before.”

“She didn’t have an owner?”

“Not that we could find. I don’t know why, but she wouldn’t leave me alone, and my friend said I _had_ to take her in, so here we are.”

“She found you,” Roman says, eyes sparkling. “She chose you.”

Virgil tries to frown as he averts his gaze. He’s only somewhat successful. “Or maybe I just smelled like pizza or something.”

“Mmm, pizza. I could go for a pizza right now,” the other muses, twisting a leaf around in his hand. “How about it?”

“How about what?”

“Care to join me?”

If Virgil still held his camera at the ready, he’d be sorely tempted right now. Roman has moved to lay more on his side, head propped up on his arm. A small leaf clings to his hair, and the accessory makes him look nothing short of endearing.

Virgil focuses too deliberately on petting Shadow. His fingers brush through the dog’s fur, silky smooth.

“Why?” he asks, because he’s used to wondering about the people behind the pictures he takes. Not the people interested about the man behind the camera.

“Because I want you to,” Roman answers. He holds the leave he’d been fiddling with out to Shadow. She sniffs it, then bites to hold it before dropping it on Virgil’s leg and forgetting about it.

Ironically, Virgil’s never liked anyone taking pictures of himself. There were better images out there to freeze in time and remember.

But the way Roman looks at him, it’s like he sees something worth preserving.

There’s a warmth in Virgil’s belly and a giddy fluttering of nerves inside him. “Are you . . . asking me out?”

A slow grin spreads on Roman’s face. “If you’d like me to.”

The fluttering dances in his chest, erratic and insisting. Virgil hugs his dog closer to himself. “How do you even know I’m gay?”

“You could be anything,” Roman agrees, not dissuaded in the slightest. “That’s the beauty of it, isn’t it?”

“I could be a serial killer.”

Roman sputters, so completely alarmed and confounded that Virgil can’t help but lose himself in a stream of laughter.

“Well, I _suppose_ you could be, Mr. I-need-to-ruin-the-moment,” Roman says, a grumble to his tone that’s betrayed by the hints of humor in his expression. “But I personally am trying to stay optimistic here.”

“Hm, sounds rough.” Virgil smiles. Roman is looking at him, shaking his head as if to say, “I’m so done with you.” It’s unfair because no matter how he looks, Virgil keeps thinking how handsome he is. “Are you actually a model?”

The frustrated look is gone and Roman’s grin turns cheeky. “As much as it delights me that you think so, no, I am not.”

“What are you then?”

“Hopeful,” he says, voice a saccharine dreaminess that makes Virgil want to melt on the spot.

Just for that, Virgil rolls his eyes, points at Roman, and tells his dog, “Get ‘em.” She immediately obliges, jumping up to tickle Roman’s face with licks.

In the end, Virgil says yes to pizza. They go out to eat, sitting at an outside table while they talk about anything and everything, Shadow laying across their feet napping. Roman manages to convince Virgil to show him the pictures he took. After all, most of them are of him anyway.

“These are amazing,” Roman breathes in awe, flicking through the different images. “Can I have these? I’ll trade you.”

It’s not the first time someone has wanted to pay Virgil for their pictures. But trade?

“What am I trading for?” Virgil asks and braces himself. There’s a mischievous glint in Roman’s eyes that Virgil is starting to recognize.

“Your pictures for my number?”

Virgil turns about ten shades of red before punching Roman’s bicep lightly. “You smooth bastard.”

“I’m not hearing a no.”

Virgil mutters in complaint.

He hands over his phone regardless.


End file.
